I Lost My NASCAR Virginity At The Daytona 500 This Weekend & Couldn't Have Asked For A Better Time
This past weekend a few of the fellas & I were lucky enough to be able to go to Daytona Beach, Florida for the Great American Race in the Daytona 500. As you all know Spider & Large are NASCAR veterans at this point though Red Ed, Marty, and I had never been to a race before. We were told if you're ever gonna go to a first race Daytona would surely be the one to hit so let's get into the antics that went on this weekend...
We went to the track for the first time on Saturday which was the day of the Xfinity Series race and got just about as warm of a welcome as you can get from Riley Herbst when we stopped by him and pulled up a photo of him absolutely ROCKING some Balls Beachwear on the tennis courts. Instantly became my favorite driver...obviously.
One day we simply will have to do a Balls Beachwear/NASCAR jersey swap.
Later on Large stopped by a wonderful man named Denny's "bar" at the infield and let me tell you folks. This man's hospitality was 2nd to none, but even better than that were these Apple Moonshine shots he would chef up. If I were to say it was one of best tasting shots of alcohol in my life it may be an understatement. It was straight up one of the best tasting liquids I've ever had the pleasure of trying. Legitimately tasted like a Mccy D's apple pie but with fucking MOONSHINE! So props to him.
I think we need to talk more about how Spider and Marty aren't related.
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But I truly can't preach enough about the infield at Daytona. It's a sight to see. Just a bunch of folks getting there DAYS before and I mean days before to simply hangout on their RV's, cook some food, and drink some alcohol. Oh and to top it all of they even had a pop-up Wendy's.
Shoutout to the man himself Kyle Busch for hooking Spidey up.
Now when we thank NASCAR for the insane access they give us, it truly may be TOO MUCH access. We have NO business being down in the pit while a race is going on!
Seeing the pit crews do their changes and what not up close & personal did NOT get old. Those fellas get released like literal bats out of hell.
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Don't forget these FIRE racing hoodies. Pun intended.
There is no denying that the 69 Money Team car absolutely puts ASSES IN SEATS.
We started Sunday (DAYTONA 500 DAY) out on the track with some bright and early pace car rides at 7am. Was I maybe still drunk after being out at the bars until closing? Probably. Did I care? Nope. You can't deny getting to hop into a pace car for a few laps on the literal track at Daytona International Speedway!
Now don't get me wrong- it was AWESOME, but I can't sit here and say we didn't get entirely too close to the wall for my liking. We EASILY could've touched the wall there. I know I know I'm a pussy…I'm just saying I liked the 2nd lap on the inside portion of the track a hell of a lot more.
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We then headed back to our RV for a little refuel before heading back out to the track, which once again is a crazy access NASCAR gives to folks, everyone was just out and about hanging on the track and on the grass. Really, really, really cool stuff. T'was prediction time for us.
It was then time for the scariest part of my weekend which was learning about inertia. We were challenged to run up the hill on the track which is way more steep than you'd expect and I SURELY did not expect to fly right back down. What comes up must come down, am I right?
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That called for a quick rest on the grass. Everyone was doing it! And by everyone I mean a nice couple having a picnic right beside us.
Next up we had to go pay our respects to one of today's country greats (and Sundae Conversation alum) Luke Combs before he performed a few pre-race bangers. It was a beautiful day to hear the bangers that we are lucky enough for this man to have blessed us with. When it rains it pours, Cold as You, and Beer Never Broke My Heart just hit different.
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It's also not every day you get to hangout with a bounty hunter. If there's one thing we learned this weekend it's that NASCAR Pit Crews all have Forrest Gump-esque lives.
As we said before…NASCAR legit may give TOO MUCH access. This was basically a half hour before the race! Imagine having us idiots and hundreds if not thousands of other people on the field before the super bowl! Crazy town, though that's NASCAR. They live it UP.
A few moments later we stopped by Austin Dillon's pit to see Spidey's guy & resident cool guy (you can just tell that dude is so fucking cool) Paul Swan.
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There was then a wonderful rendition of the national anthem by Mr. Trace Adkins followed by a flyover by the Air Force Thunderbirds which I don't even need to write about since everyone knows how awesome the thunderbirds are. Few things get the engine more revved than a flyover at a big sporting event.
AAAAAND goodbye to my Denny Hamlin bet. Can't even say close but no cigar because it was quite literally the first wreck of the day that my guy got eliminated on.
Eventually we got up to our suite where we had some absolute legends. Hue Jackson, The Thunderbirds that had just done the flyover, and Brandon Marshall. I will also say- I've seen my fair share of athletes in person, but Brandon Marshall? I genuinely don't know how anyone ever managed to tackle him. Need to see a 37-year-old Brandon Marshall against Eli Apple right this second. Though there's a reason he's a 6x Pro-Bowler! Also I would be remised to not mention the pork parmesan they had up there. First time I've ever seen a pork parmesan though ya know? It tasted good & that's all that mattered.
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Eventually the race was winding down which meant the craziness started to heat up. Got even crazier when our new pal Brandon Marshall jumped in for a quick video update.
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And yup I really did mean craziness. A MASSIVE wreck with 10 laps to go may have fucked up Spidey's day a little bit.
Shockingly enough NONE OF US had the winner in rookie driver Austin Cindric.
You know what they say though…if you had fun you won! And had fun we surely friggen did. We cannot thank NASCAR and their media team enough for the crazy weekend. So much fucking fun for Marty, Eddie, and I as we lost our virginities. Obviously wasn't Spider & Large's first time as well but those seasoned veterans had a blast as well. Thank y'all for following along and I literally CANNOT WAIT to get to another race.